


Where It All Began

by scorpia



Series: Where It All Began [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: 19 You + Me Inspired, Alive Hale Family, Alternate Universe, As accurate as I could make it info regarding the military and medical school, Except Not Cause They're Both Still in Training/School, First Times, Fluff, Getting Together, Great song, Hale Family Feels, M/M, POV Derek, So Like Pre-Doctor and Pre-Soldier, Some angst, Stilinski Family Feels, a lot of fluff, all the sterek, but also some smut, doctor!derek, myrtle beach, soldier!Stiles, sterek, this was supposed to be short
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-02
Updated: 2017-03-03
Packaged: 2018-09-27 21:20:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10050653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scorpia/pseuds/scorpia
Summary: “There is no way that thing is real,” Derek blurted out before he could stop himself.Maybe it was the beers, he just couldn’t help it. There was absolutely no way the guy sitting next to him was twenty-one. His buzzed haircut probably didn’t help, but still. He had moles dotting his face and neck, dimples that were noticeable even when he wasn’t smiling, and eyes so wide that he could not imagine them on any grown adult.The guy turned his head toward Derek to meet his eyes, before glancing back down at the card he was stuffing into his wallet. He laughed. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s not. And I’m pretty sure the dude serving drinks knows it’s not, but no one’s turned me down yet, so we’re going by this unspoken ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ rule.”Or where Derek and Stiles meet on vacation at Myrtle Beach.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I tried to make all the info regarding the Army as accurate as I could, using the internet and a veteran friend of mine as reference, but please excuse any errors on that part.
> 
> This work is loosely inspired by the fantastic song "19 You + Me" by Dan & Shay. Also where the title comes from. I'd recommend watching the music video.
> 
> Enjoy!

Derek was pretty sure that if this counted as “Hale family bonding,” then he and his family needed therapy. Well, they probably needed therapy anyway, but this just proves his point.

When his sisters told him that their entire family was going down to South Carolina for vacation, he was less than enthusiastic. Then again, his idea of a good summer was staying in his bedroom, away from the rest of the Earth’s population. But the idea of getting to see his sisters build sandcastles together as if they were four years old again, while his parents actually _went_ in the ocean instead of keeping worried eyes on their three children, seemed like a win-win.

Nowhere in that nostalgic fantasy of his, however, included watching his two sisters getting smashed while his parents cheered them on in an outdoor bar. Cora is the youngest at twenty years old (“Close enough!” his father decreed), and they weren’t going to go anywhere after this bar except home to the villa they were renting. Besides, with Laura and his father being able to hold their liquor like they have livers of steel – and his mom keeping an ever-vigilant eye on all three of them – Derek was sure nothing would go wrong.

Still, he was sure his family was insane.

Derek polished off the beer he was nursing, his second of the night, and Cora, on her third shot, pointed an already starting to wobble finger at him. “Der gets the next round!” she proclaimed.

Derek pushed her finger away. “Who says? I have to put up with your idiocy for the rest of the night, I’m not paying for it too.”

Cora stuck her tongue out at him, and Derek will never admit to sticking his out at her in retaliation.

“Here, sweetheart.” His mom handed him a couple of bills and nodded her head.

Derek gave her a look but she just rolled her eyes fondly at the rest of their family. Derek knew what she meant. _They’re having fun_. Derek sighed and pushed himself away from the table, walking through the sand over to the bar and leaning down on a free space. The bartender was speaking to the customer beside him, so he figured it wouldn’t be too long to wait as he reached for the snack bowl on the counter.

He just put a couple of pretzels in his mouth when the bartender put a beer in front of the guy next to him and turned to Derek. Derek ordered the drinks for his table, including another beer for himself, and turned his head to people-watch while he waited. He started in the most obvious place, the guy sitting not two feet to his left, putting away his ID card. Derek furrowed his eyebrows.

“There is no way that thing is real,” Derek blurted out before he could stop himself.

Maybe it was the beers, he just couldn’t help it. There was absolutely no way the guy sitting next to him was twenty-one. His buzzed haircut probably didn’t help, but still. He had moles dotting his face and neck, dimples that were noticeable even when he wasn’t smiling, and eyes so wide that he could not imagine them on any grown adult.

The guy turned his head toward Derek to meet his eyes, before glancing back down at the card he was stuffing into his wallet. He laughed. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s not. And I’m pretty sure the dude serving drinks knows it’s not, but no one’s turned me down yet, so we’re going by this unspoken ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ rule.”

The guy’s voice was light and easy, his face open and calm despite Derek’s rather rude accusation. The hand gestures he made as he spoke, as well as his leg bouncing up and down sporadically on the stool, showed a certain energy the guy possessed that made Derek wonder if drinking at all was a good idea for him.

It was after sunset, so the only lighting was the white lights strung above them and the tiki-like torches all around, but Derek was still struck by the guy’s eyes. They were too light to be brown, but they didn’t look hazel either.

Derek nodded. “So how old are you really? ‘Cause if I find out you’re under eighteen I might just have to call social services.” Was he flirting? His tone sounded flirty. He literally just asked this kid if he was _legal_ in a flirty tone. What the hell was wrong with him? He should cancel his next beer.

“Hey! I know this haircut makes me look young but come on. I’m nineteen.” He said in a mock-insulted tone.

Derek scoffed as the bartender brought his drinks over. “You’re just a baby.”

“Oh, and how old are you?” He said with a challenging smile.

“Twenty-three.”

“Well _excuse_ _me_ , grandpa!” He said as he took a swig from his beer.

Derek laughed at that, opening his own beer bottle. This guy was fun to talk to, and even though he had his drinks and their conversation really could end here with nothing more than a casual ‘see you around,’ he didn’t want it to.

“I’m Derek.”

“Stiles,” the guy said, holding out his hand. Derek didn’t know any nineteen year-olds that shook hands, but he went with it, sticking out his own.

Stiles’ hand surprised Derek. For one thing, it was big, rivaling the size of Derek’s own, and for someone still so young that was rare. For the second thing, his hand was calloused pretty badly. Not that Derek was paying any attention, but Stiles’ face and neck looked soft to the touch as did the arms that were exposed by his red t-shirt, so for him to have rough hands was unexpected.

For the life of him, though, Derek couldn’t figure out why he liked it so much.

“Odd name,” Derek commented, because if he didn’t he may have said something more like, ‘I thought your hands would be softer than this, but that’s ok because this is kinda hot’ and that just would have been awkward. He let go of Stiles’ hand so that it wouldn’t cause further distraction.

“It’s a nick-name,” Stiles said automatically. Derek figured he must get that a lot, because he followed it with, “Trust me, you don’t want to know my full one.”

Derek grinned and nodded. “Fair enough. So what brings you to Myrtle Beach, Stiles?”

“I’m having a mini vacation with my dad while I’m on leave. You?” he said casually.

“Family vacation as well. On leave from what?” Derek asked, catching that detail.

“Basic Combat Training. I just finished it over at Fort Jackson, and I’ve got one week left before I can go back for my Advanced Individual Training.”

Well that explained the calloused hands. Derek hummed, impressed. “Well thank you for your service,” he said.

Stiles smirked, flashing a speckled dimple. “I haven’t done anything yet. My dad did fifteen years in the Army before retiring to become a cop. I’ll accept thanks after I have half his accomplishments.”

Derek disagreed, as he always thought anyone who was brave enough to enlist deserved a thanks, but let it drop. Looking at Stiles, hearing the conviction in his voice, he could tell from that one simple sentence it meant a lot to him to live up to his father. Thinking of his own dad, a surgeon who barely a week ago saved the life of a young mother and her newborn twins, he knew the feeling.

That reminded him. Derek looked down at the drinks sitting untouched before him on the bar. He glanced back over at his family’s table just in time to see Cora pound her hand down and call out his name. Loudly. Twice.

Derek sighed. At least half the bar must have turned to see who the crazy, drunken lady was and why she was being so obnoxious.

“You know if they’re driving you crazy, as the look on your face would imply, the seat next to me is open,” Stiles grinned. Derek cocked his eyebrow at him. “Which I’m sure you knew as you’ve been sitting in it for the past couple of minutes,” Stiles babbled, twitching his head back and forth.

Derek smiled then, tempted. “Thanks, but if I tell them I’m ditching them to talk to a guy, my sisters will never let me hear the end of it.”

Did Derek just give too much away? Did he just out himself? Sure, Stiles seemed like a friendly guy, but Derek didn’t know him, he didn’t know his views on certain topics. It’s not that Derek was ashamed of himself or who he was, but he was normally a much more reserved guy who would wait until he knew a person better before revealing something so private. So why did he just tell Stiles? How did he feel comfortable enough to just say something like that without even thinking? Stupid alcohol.

“Pity,” Stiles said, interrupting Derek’s frantic, internal dialogue, “’cause I think getting some flak from your siblings would be totally worth it if I got to spend a bit more time with you.”

And there it was. Stiles’ eyes – those not-brown, not-hazel eyes – flickered down from Derek’s face to his stomach, where his short-sleeved, button down shirt was undone all the way, leaving his abs exposed to the world, and Stiles’ lingering gaze. The corner of Stiles’ mouth pulled up again before he looked away, picking up his beer and taking another swig. Derek found himself suddenly very thankful for his 5-day-a-week workout regimen that gave him his six pack. The uncertain worry he held in his stomach only moments ago was replaced with uncontrollable, fluttering butterflies.

Oh no. Butterflies. Derek didn’t _do_ butterflies, not normally. Even as his lips curved up into a smile he wanted to shake his head at himself. He knew this feeling. He knew what this meant. Derek was screwed.


	2. Chapter 2

The day after they met at the bar, they agreed to meet up again at the beach and go surfing. Stiles was terrible at it. Really, Derek should have been clued in that it was a bad idea when Stiles tripped over a crab, _actually_ a crab, just walking to the shoreline. The kid had no balance. More than once Derek had to jump in the ocean after him when he fell off his board and couldn’t get back on. He teased the shit out of him for that, but when he had to grab Stiles’ narrow, firm waist to steady him, he really couldn’t find it in him to complain about having to help anymore.

They’d spent all day at the beach together, losing track of so much time that they didn’t even notice it was nighttime until they couldn’t see each other’s faces anymore. They grabbed some dinner at a local diner and went to the arcade, where it was revealed that the two of them were both ridiculously competitive, especially when stupid wagers like “I’ll bet you this miniature slinky that I can make the 10,000 hole in Ski-Ball first,” were involved. (Stiles may have no balance, but his hand-eye coordination is kind of impeccable.)

Even after that, they didn’t want to go, so they just . . . laid there in the sand, staring up at the stars and making easy conversation.

Around three in the morning, Stiles got a call from his dad, worried about why he hadn’t heard from his usually diligent son in about eighteen hours. Derek walked Stiles back to his hotel, trying to prolong the moment until he found a way to do what he was dying to.

In the end, he didn’t need to worry, because Stiles leaned up the few inches difference between them and lightly brushed his lips against Derek’s. For how spastic his behavior had been all day, the gentle action was surprisingly sweet, and also sort of hot. As Derek deepened the kiss, he began to realize that a lot of how Stiles is could be explained that way: spastic, sweet, and hot.

It was without a doubt the best day Derek has ever had with another human being, no exceptions. And he surprised himself with how freely he could talk to Stiles, making it no wonder how he couldn’t keep his mouth shut the first time they met. In truth, Stiles talked so much gibberish that it would be hard for Derek to feel embarrassed about anything he said, even if they hadn’t kept the conversations relatively light. But the guy could make him laugh, and that wasn’t an easy feat by anyone’s standards.

 

The next day Stiles sat in the passenger seat of Derek’s rented jeep, the music blaring and Stiles thrashing around with the Ariana Grande song playing on the radio, singing along off-key and making Derek grin, even though it wasn’t his taste in music. At the beach the day before, one of the topics that was brought up was Stiles’ training at Fort Jackson. Stiles had bragged that he was one of the best shots in the base, and Derek couldn’t help but laugh at that. This, of course, started a challenge that neither men were going to back down on, where Stiles told Derek he would school him in the art of shooting. Stiles had gotten permission from the base commanders to take his rifle home with him after training, given that he’d only be gone a little while before heading back. Of course, the base didn’t give Stiles bullets to go along with the rifle, but Stiles’ dad, as a cop, had access to some.

Derek drove them out to a secluded hilly area near the ocean and set up some targets, beer cans mostly, on a fence. It was a scene out a movie really. Stiles, for all his clumsiness and twitching the day before, held steady and calm while he took each shot, hitting the bullseye every time. Apparently a natural-born sharpshooter, Stiles was considering, at the behest of his superiors, going to Advance Individual Training not only as an analyst, but also as a sniper. He wasn’t all too thrilled at the idea of being a sniper, as he much preferred the mental challenge of being an Intelligence Analyst, but snipers gave more help to the men on the front line, and that thought appealed to Stiles’ comradery.

The thought, while impressive, made Derek’s stomach churn with an unspoken worry. Snipers, though usually on ledges far away, were still in the middle of the action.

After hitting three cans down from the fence, Stiles handed the rifle to Derek. He made him widen his stance and showed him how to hold and balance the gun properly while standing.

“Be careful to hold this position, otherwise the recoil can be a total bitch,” Stiles warned.

“You got it, Captain,” Derek smiled.

Stiles smirked. “Private First Class, actually.”

Derek scoffed and took aim at one of the cans. He fired and the gun jolted back, knocking into his shoulder and making him grunt. Derek groaned slightly at the pain and looked up. He’d missed the can completely and didn’t have the aim to even hit the fence.

“I literally just told you to hold that position and then you dropped it,” Stiles teased, coming up and rubbing Derek’s shoulder to make it feel better. It didn’t necessarily help the pain, but Derek certainly felt more at ease. “Here, let me show you again.”

Stiles removed the gun from Derek’s hands and took his stance again, showing how his arms were set to help cushion the blow. Derek couldn’t help but take him in, from the arms that, in this flexing position, were now bigger and lined with biceps Derek didn’t know were there, to his stomach, the way the flat curve of his shirt was hiding the beginnings of a nice set of abs Derek had glimpsed at the day before at the beach.

He tried paying attention to what Stiles was teaching him, but it was harder than Derek cared to admit. When Stiles passed Derek the rifle again, he was glad Stiles put his hands on Derek’s shoulders and forearms to help move him into the correct placement, even though his hands roaming across Derek’s arms were an added distraction.

All the same, Derek kept the position this time, aiming as best he could without moving too much, and taking a shot. He was surprised when he heard the _clink_ , and looked up to see one less beer can on the fence then there had been a moment ago.

Derek blinked once or twice before he heard Stiles whistle, going over and picking up the can Derek had taken down. He brought it over and offered it to Derek, who leaned the gun against the jeep and held out his hand. The hole in the tin was off in the bottom corner, less than an inch away from missing the can entirely, but it went clean through.

“Congratulations. It sure as hell took me more than two shots before I got my first good hit, and my target had been bigger than this,” Stiles said with a proud smile on his face.

Derek nearly blushed at that. Nearly. Instead, he put the can on the driver’s seat of the Jeep, turning back to Stiles and keeping his eyes trained down. “Well, considering I injured myself with my first shot, I’d say it was the talent of my teacher to thank here.”

Derek looked up into Stiles’ grinning, dimpled face. Whiskey, he decided. Stiles’ eyes looked like whiskey: Smooth with an amber tint that glowed in the light of the sun. And didn’t that just figure, because Derek felt like he could get drunk from looking into them for too long. Stiles opened his mouth to say something, probably something sarcastic, but that little movement of his lips was all it took.

Derek leaned in and captured Stiles’ mouth with his own. Stiles made a startled noise, but quickly recovered and leaned into the kiss, the surprised sound turning into a small groan of pleasure. Stiles reached up and placed his hands on either side of Derek’s face, holding him steady and deepening the kiss. Derek didn’t object, bringing his hands to Stiles’ waist and pulling him close.

When Derek had Stiles flush against him, he moved one of his hands to Stiles’ head, enjoying the soft feel of the short hairs against his palm. Stiles smiled into their kiss, his tongue flicking out and brushing against Derek’s as he braced his hands against Derek’s shoulders and pushed, sending him a few steps back into the Jeep. _Fuck that was hot_ , Derek thought.

Stiles’ stepped into Derek’s space once again, pressing Derek further against the Jeep and quickly picked up where they’d left off, with Stiles’ mouth doing everything in its power to test Derek’s self-control. His hands wandered all over his upper body, starting at Derek’s broad chest, his fingertips digging in slightly as he moved up to Derek’s shoulders and dragging down, painfully slow, to his biceps, forearms, and ended at his hands.

He picked Derek’s hands up in his own, intertwining their fingers, and surprising Derek with the intimacy of the move. To him, holding hands while making out seemed like something a longer-term couple might do, yet with Stiles it felt so natural. Derek moaned at the happiness he felt swell in his chest, and licked into Stiles’ mouth as a thank you. He wasn’t quite sure what he was thanking him for, but that didn’t matter.

They continued like that for longer than either of them knew, the intensity of the kiss only growing, and they were getting dangerously close to something neither of them would normally do on only the second date. Derek lowered his hands from where they were on Stiles’ ass to the back of his upper thighs and lifted him into the air. Stiles’ wrapped his legs around Derek’s waist and cupped his face so they wouldn’t break the contact between their lips.

Stiles’ leg, as it was adjusting, knocked against the rifle, leaning next to them on the car, and it toppled over. It startled them enough to snap them out of the private world they had been in and look over. Both of them were panting hard, and their lips were blistering red, Derek’s bottom lip beginning to numb from the nip Stiles had given it a moment ago.

They stared blankly at the rifle for a moment, almost having forgotten why it was there in the first place, before Stiles licked his lips and cleared his throat.

“I should probably put that away: recently fired guns can go off if they get dropped too hard.” His tone sounded distracted, but matter-of-fact. Derek looked at Stiles’ face, eyes going from his parted lips to his flushed cheeks and landing at his blown-out eyes. Quite frankly, there was nothing he wanted to do less than let go of Stiles in this instant. But he nodded and gently put Stiles back on his feet. His arms felt unusually empty the moment Stiles stepped away to pick up the gun.

“We should head back,” Derek said.

Stiles nodded, hesitating for a moment before settling the rifle in the backseat of the car and walking around to the passenger side. Derek took a deep breath to cool down, and he wasn’t the only one who needed to, based on what he could feel when he picked Stiles up.

He got in the car with Stiles, moving the can he’d shot into the back with the gun. The drive back was comfortably silent, with Stiles reaching over and stroking his fingertips against the hand Derek had resting against the gear shift and Derek couldn’t think of a time where he’d felt more content.

Derek dropped Stiles off at his hotel, knowing that Stiles had plans to have dinner with his father that night, and went back to the villa where his family was just starting dinner themselves. He had a calmness over him the rest of the night despite his family’s high energy, and he could only suspect that it was an extension of the way Stiles made him feel when they were together. He spent most of the night (not) secretly texting Stiles while watching a movie with his family.

_“Sleep tight.”_ Derek had texted Stiles around midnight when he announced he was going to bed.

_“Sure will. I’ll be dreaming of you ;)”_ was what Stiles had replied.

That must have made Derek look as giddy and warm as he suddenly felt, because Cora snatched his phone right out of his hand, exclaiming, “ _What_ are you so smiley at?”

“Cora, don’t,” Derek said, grabbing after his phone, but it was too late. Cora read the text.

“AWW! Derek has a new boyfriend!” she declared, scrolling up in Derek’s text conversation to read what she hoped would be more juicy family gossip.

“Would you shut up?” Derek snapped, seizing his phone out of Cora’s nosy hands and quickly locking it so she couldn’t get back in.

“A boyfriend you say?” Laura’s voice spiked in interest, turning her head away from _Ferris Bueller's Day Off_ in order to join the conversation. Oh God.

“Yeah, and he’s being all cutesy with him already!” Cora said with disbelief.

Laura cocked her brow. “Who could you possibly have met and gotten serious with while we’re on vacation? More importantly, how could you have met someone and I haven’t?”

“I was wondering where you’d got to all day today,” Derek’s father commented, coming out of the kitchen area to hand his wife a glass of wine.

“It’s not that. . . ” Derek was at a loss for what to say. He wanted to tell his family it wasn’t that serious, that it was nothing but a summer fling. In truth, that’s all it should be, as he’s only known Stiles for three days. So why did it feel like he would be lying to his family if he said that?

“Being cute _and_ spending all day with him? Gees, Der, next you’ll be married. You weren’t even like that with Jennifer,” Laura commented.

Derek rolled his eyes at that one. His older sister found any excuse she could to bring up Jennifer. The one serious girlfriend Derek has had before and his family keeps rubbing her in Derek’s face. They broke up almost two years ago for fuck’s sake!

“I’m sure this is the young man you were canoodling with at the bar the other day,” Derek’s father says, taking a seat on the couch next to Laura.

“Oh so _that’s_ why it took you so long to get our drinks,” Cora said with understanding.

“You really can’t hold your liquor as well as you think you can if you didn’t notice Derek flirting with the guy at the bar,” Laura commented to Cora, who merely rolled her eyes and waved her hand dismissively.

Derek could feel, to his horror, the blood draining from his face and knew it would be reflecting on his tan skin. He got quiet, hoping they would get the hint, and stuffed his phone in his pocket, as if it being out of sight would make his family forget this line of questioning.

“Hush,” Derek’s mother said to her husband and daughters after taking a sip of her wine. “Derek.” He looked up when his mother called him, and met her peaceful eyes. “I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself with this young man.”

Derek smiled slightly at her, but remained cautious. He knew how his mother operated, and the compliment could very easily be followed by--

“We would love to meet him. Why don’t you invite him over for dinner tomorrow evening?”

\--a request that Derek knew better than to refuse.

“He’s here with his dad and it’s only for a short amount of time,” Derek countered hopefully.

“Well that’s just fine. His father is more than welcome to join us as well,” his mother stated. She had this way of saying something so gently, and yet there was no mistaking it for anything other than the order it was.

Derek sighed as his sisters snickered at his expense. “Yeah, Mom, I’ll ask.”

Dreading the response he might get, and what his family might do should Stiles actually agree to this, he sent the text.

_“Hey, so don’t feel like you have to, but my mom said she wants to invite you and your dad over to our villa for dinner tomorrow night. No pressure.”_

Stiles didn’t respond until the next morning, but—to both Derek’s relief and dismay—he replied with an enthusiastic _“We’d love to!_ ”


	3. Chapter 3

Derek met Stiles’ father, a sheriff in a small town only about thirty minutes away from where Derek grew up (go figure), and couldn’t remember a time when he felt more intimidated to shake a man’s hand. It probably didn’t help that at the time Derek entered the room to meet him, he’d been fieldstripping Stiles’ Army-issued rifle.

But the man was polite if not firm – reminding him somewhat of his mother – and it was clear that Stiles was the apple of his eye. Stiles had mentioned before that his mother had passed before he’d turned 10, and Derek could tell that the tragedy had built a strong bond between the father and son. It made Derek proud that Stiles would consider him worthy enough to introduce him to his father, who Stiles saw as his hero.

Things went a little differently when Stiles met Derek’s family. Cora greeted Stiles the moment Derek had the door open, grabbing his chin in her hand and turning his face from side to side, commenting on his number of freckles and how cute his and Derek’s kids would be if they got those freckles, too. Laura was right there as well, punching Stiles’ arm and saying that she hopes he likes childish pinching games and quick one-liners. But, by some miracle, Stiles didn’t mind, seemed to love it in fact, matching their enthusiasm with his own and then some.

Derek’s mother and father shook both men by the hand, his mother more warmly and gently while his father gave them his winning smile, the one that Derek knew calmed his patients down before they went under for surgery. Stiles and his father settled as everyone began to eat. The two families exchanged some typical pleasantries before it melted into easy conversation, taking time to get to know each member of the opposite family.

The sheriff, despite himself, couldn’t contain the impressed looked when he asked Derek what he wanted to do with his life and Derek had answered with “pediatrician.” He was already a few years into medical school, so he knew most of the basics, but still had a long way to go. Hell, he’d even brought some textbooks with him in case he found time to study. Stiles had given something like a proud grin when Derek had told the sheriff as much, and Derek didn’t even question the warmth that unfurled in his chest at the thought of Stiles being proud of him.

Derek was happy, to say the very least, that Stiles could talk as easily to each member of his family as he could to Derek. He answered every questions they threw his way, telling them he was in the military for the foreseeable future, and then had plans to join the police force, just like his father before him. Something about how Stiles wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father had Derek’s own father‘s eyes shine when he regarded Stiles, and Derek could tell Stiles was winning him over already.

And Stiles was funny, he cracked jokes that were small, but enough to make everyone at the table, including Stiles himself, chuckle or grin. That, aside from the question of whether or not he would treat their brother right, was the only reassurance Derek’s sisters needed to be smitten with Stiles themselves, though they would never admit as much.

The only one Derek was truly concerned with was his mother. He knew Stiles was impressive enough to win her over, but it took more than a good resume and seemingly nice personality to let her trust someone with her children. She learned that lesson with Jennifer. Even so, his mother had a way of reading people, and Derek could see her eyes soften more and more as the night drew on.

Stiles had no shortage of questions himself. He made sure to speak directly to one family member at a time, knowing that someone could get lost or forgotten when it came to bigger families, and he asked specific questions or included details that showed the Hale family that he had been paying attention:

“Derek mentioned you had a scholarship to Harvard Law, Cora. That’s impressive.”

“Laura, you wanted to go into nonprofit organizations? Did you know for what specific cause?”

“Mr. Hale, how long have you owned your own practice?”

“I understand you created the concept of an open animal shelter, Mrs. Hale. One without cages where the animals can roam around and interact with the people more freely.”

He asked every question with the same warm smile and curious eyes, and Derek had never felt so grateful that another person had found their way into his life. He knew he could be impatient with them, but he loved his family with everything he had inside him, was raised to believe that family is the strongest bond of all, and to have someone who shared and respected that belief meant more to Derek than he had previously realized.

At the end of the night, hours later, when the meal was long over and the dishes cleared, the two Stilinski men were saying goodnight when Derek offered to see Stiles back to the hotel. Derek felt his nerves spark alive when Stiles agreed perhaps a little too eagerly. Stiles’ father drove their own rented car back to the motel while Stiles drove with Derek in the Jeep.

The three of them were standing in front of the door to their room while the sheriff unlocked it, Derek saying goodnight to him and Stiles one last time, thanking them for joining his family for dinner, but when the sheriff opened the door, Stiles spoke up.

“You go ahead, Dad, I’ll be in a little later,” he said, giving his dad a small smile and nodding when he raised an eyebrow at him.

The sheriff hummed in agreement, ducking in the room with one last, “Goodnight, Derek. And thank you again for a pleasant evening.”

Derek nodded and, when the door was fully closed behind him, turned a puzzled look to Stiles, who seemed to be thinking something through quite thoroughly. Finally, something in his brain seemed to click, and he glanced at Derek with a small smile playing on his lips.

“Come on,” he said quietly, jerking his chin.

Derek followed him. He followed him as Stiles walked into the elevator and pressed the button for a few floors up. Stiles lead him to a room, and surprised Derek by opening his wallet and pulling out a keycard. Stiles opened the door and gestured inside. Derek cocked his eyebrow at Stiles. Stiles smirked, but Derek could tell there was a nervous edge to it.

“I may have reserved another room tonight,” Stiles shrugged.

Derek opened his mouth to speak but found that nothing was coming out, his nerves suddenly so bad that he was pretty sure they killed his voice box. So he merely walked into the room, hiding his anxious grin by ducking his head.

“So what is it you plan on doing with me in here?” Derek teased, proud at how level his voice sounded even as his adrenaline spiked at the thought of all they _could_ do in here.

Stiles had barely closed the door behind them before turning abruptly and launching himself at Derek, crushing their mouths together with an urgency he hadn’t had before. Derek’s worry disappeared the moment their lips met, and he was all too happy to push back, to give Stiles all that he got and more.

Stiles’ hands started on his face, but moved and tangled in Derek’s black hair, pulling him closer still. Derek’s own hands were running up and down Stiles’ back and shoulders, feeling every notch in his spine through his shirt. Stiles opened his mouth, nipping Derek’s bottom lip and sneaking his tongue inside when Derek gasped at the sting. Their tongues danced together, pushing back and forth, exploring and tasting each other with a desperation stronger than either of them could control.

Derek backed Stiles up into the door, making him give a small whine of pleasure as Derek hiked Stiles’ leg up and pushed his hips against him. They stayed there, grinding against one another roughly while Derek broke their kiss only to move his mouth down Stiles’ neck, sucking harsh red marks into his skin and then licking them better.

Derek let his hands travel to the bottom of Stiles’ shirt, sliding his hands underneath the material and letting his fingers gently move across Stiles’ abdomen. Stiles shivered at that, squeezing the hand he still had in Derek’s hair. Derek took that, and the twitch he felt from the hardening in Stiles’ pants, as his cue to continue.

He removed his mouth from Stiles only long enough to pull the clothing over his head and out of the way. Stiles grabbed Derek by his leather jacket, pushing and shoving at the material until it had slipped past his shoulders, and Derek finished removing it himself, tossing it carelessly onto the floor. He ripped his Henley over his head as well, wanting to get that over with so he wouldn’t be interrupted from kissing Stiles again. Stiles tasted amazing, and all he wanted to do was chase that feeling, relish that flavor against his tongue for as long as he could.

Stiles’ hands – those calloused hand – roved over his bare skin, tingling his nerves as they went and setting his skin on fire. They got caught between their bodies, at the waist of Derek’s jeans, and began fumbling with his belt, unhooking it and the button quickly. Derek jerked his head back with a gasp when Stiles slipped one of his hands inside, palming Derek, who groaned and bit down on Stiles’ shoulder. Stiles moaned at the feeling of Derek’s teeth against his skin, and wrapped his fingers around Derek, pumping him slowly. Once, twice.

That was all Derek could take. He needed more and he needed it now. Picking Stiles up quickly, he carried him to the bed and collapsed both of them onto it. He got up on his knees and Stiles scooted back, further on the mattress. He leaned over for a moment and opened the top drawer of the bedside table, pulling out a bottle of lube and setting it on the bed next to them.

“Went shopping before dinner,” Stiles said as if Derek had needed an explanation.

Derek just smiled and looked down, setting his hands to undo his fly the rest of the way, and Stiles leaned over to help him pull the denim down past his thighs. Derek unwillingly got up to yank his pants and boxer briefs off the rest of the way, climbing back across the mattress to Stiles, leaning down and kissing Stiles’ torso on his way back up to his mouth.

When his teeth nipped at Stiles’ nipple, Stiles arched into the sensation, moaning and digging his nails in Derek’s side. Derek grinned to himself and spent the next minute slowly torturing Stiles this way, alternating between flicking his tongue against the sensitive nub and grazing it with his teeth until Stiles was practically writhing underneath him, grabbing at Derek’s ass and pulling him closer and closer.

Derek moved his hands from where they currently boxed Stiles in on the mattress to his pants, quickly undoing his fly and pulling both his jeans and boxers off in one motion. He stopped then, didn’t mean to, but he couldn’t help himself. Stiles was lying naked on a bed before him and he was absolutely beautiful. Derek sat back on his heels for longer than what could be passed off as just a lustful stare, his eyes grazing over every inch of the man’s body, every inch he wanted to touch, to lick, to pull closer to his own.

When he reached Stiles’ face, he realized with a start that Stiles was doing much the same, studying every part of Derek that he could see. When Stiles met his eyes, Derek’s tongue flicked out and wetted his lips, trying to think of what he wanted to say before realizing he didn’t need to. The words of praise passed unspoken, but understood, between them and Derek leaned back in slowly, kissing Stiles’ lips more tenderly before moving downward.

He kissed down Stiles’ front until he reached the trail of thick hair under his stomach. He followed it down and licked a stripe up the underside of Stiles’ erection, making him gasp and his hips buck forward unconsciously. Derek didn’t hesitate to wrap a hand around the base and take Stiles into his mouth, sucking down hard and fast, taking him as deep as he could. Stiles moaned above him, his hands gripped the blankets beneath him, turning his knuckles white. Derek bobbed his head a few times before pulling off. This wasn’t how he wanted Stiles to let go. No, he wanted them to be much closer than that.

He quickly sucked on three of his own fingers before crawling over Stiles again, who automatically wrapped his legs around Derek’s waist. Looking into his eyes, Derek’s fingers brushed against Stiles’ entrance, but no more. Stiles nodded his consent and kept eye contact as Derek pushed a finger inside him. He winced at first, and Derek could tell how tight he was, but he quickly relaxed himself as much as he could, and Derek started moving, withdrawing his finger and pushing it back in, setting a purposefully slow pace.

It took some time, and all the patience he had, but Derek had worked three fingers into Stiles, who was moaning openly, gripping Derek’s shoulders and squeezing his legs around Derek’s waist.

“Please, Derek,” he whispered with desperation, and that was all Derek could take. He removed his fingers and grabbed blindly for the lube, using too much in the process to coat himself as his hands shook. He lined himself up with Stiles entrance, pushing into him inch by inch until his hips were flush against Stiles’ backside.

They only waited a beat before Stiles was nodding and Derek was moving, rolling his hips back and forth at a steady pace, and trying to keep his wits about him. Stiles was panting out little sounds that Derek wanted to hear for the rest of his life. He leaned down, kissing Stiles’ lips gently despite letting his pace become a little rougher. Stiles kissed back with hunger, crying out when Derek hit his prostate and scraped his blunt nails against Derek’s back. Derek winced at the pain, but pumped into him harder, loving the way Stiles felt around him, how tight and warm and wet he was.

He told Stiles this, whispered into his ear how perfect he was, how unbelievable he felt. Stiles whined in response and clenched his muscles. Derek could feel himself beginning to tip over the edge. Determined for Stiles to finish first, he quickened his pace again, and leaned in to lick the shell of Stiles’ ear.

“Let go, baby,” he whispered and could feel Stiles start to spasm. “Let go. I’m right here. I’ve got you. Let go for me.”

He kissed behind Stiles’ ear as he arched up, moaning out Derek’s name as he did what Derek said and let go, spilling out and covering the two men’s stomachs. Derek pumped into him for a moment more before he reached his own climax, filling Stiles up before he could pull out and collapsing on the bed next to the younger man, panting into his neck.

Their breathing calmed down after a few minutes, and Derek leaned over, kissed Stiles’ neck, and told him again how perfect he was.

“Shut up,” Stiles murmured, but there was a happiness in his voice, a bliss, that showed he didn’t actually want Derek to stop talking.

“I mean it,” Derek said, leaning back only enough to get a look at Stiles’ face. “Stiles, you are so much more than I ever would have thought I could have.”

Never having been a man of many words, Derek left it at that, but he trusted that Stiles had understood his meaning. Judging by how Stiles’ fingertips brushed against Derek’s cheek with such reverent care, and how he looked softly into Derek’s eyes when he said, “You too,” Derek figured he was right.

They stayed there a few minutes more before Stiles suggested they should clean up. Going to the bathroom, Derek was, for once, not surprised by how relaxed he felt with Stiles, a contentedness settling deep within his chest that he hoped would never leave.

They wetted a few hand towels and Stiles flicked some water at Derek’s face, laughing at the expression Derek had until Derek wrung the towel out over Stiles’ head in retaliation. Stiles let out an indignant noise and shook his head out like a dog, hoping some of the drops of water would fling out and onto Derek, who laughed and raised his hand to shield his eyes.

They cleaned each other up instead of simply cleaning themselves, still feeling the need to be close to one another. While running the damp towel over Stiles’ chest, Derek leaned in and pressed his lips to Stiles’ forehead – some water droplets running down from his still wet hair – kissing him delicately and inhaling the scent of Stiles and Derek and sex all in one. Stiles hummed happily.

Once back in the bed, they cuddled up next to one another, with Derek’s head against Stiles’ shoulder and his arm across Stiles’ chest. Stiles had his arms wrapped around Derek, his fingers carding through Derek’s hair while Derek trailed his fingers up and down Stiles’ side. They fell asleep like that, wrapped up in one another, neither of them able to think of a place in the world they would rather be.


	4. Chapter 4

Derek woke up early the next morning, just before seven, to Stiles gently shaking him by the arm and whispering his name. He told Derek he needed to get back to his and his father’s room before his dad woke up to find he wasn’t there. Derek had moaned unhappily, trying to pull Stiles back into bed for just another five minutes, but his mood improved considerably when Stiles leaned in and said, “I’ve got this room booked up until tonight.”

Stiles kissed Derek sweetly, nuzzling their noses together before he disappeared out the door, leaving Derek to peacefully doze off for another few hours.

Derek showered in the hotel room and went out briefly to get breakfast from a nearby diner, figuring Stiles would eat with his dad. When Stiles came back to the room around eleven, Derek hadn't even bothered to go back to the villa and change clothes. He knew the majority of what they’d be doing that day didn’t require clothing at all.

To say they were “compatible” was the understatement of the century. Derek had had “compatible” before, and, while it was good, it didn’t even compare. Stiles was something out of his teenage wet fantasies, the way he moved his body against Derek’s, writhed under his touched and mouthed at his skin, nipping and licking anywhere he could reach.

And the sounds. The sounds Stiles made whenever Derek touched him just right, moved so deep inside him that he couldn’t help but cry out, they were nothing short of addicting. Derek was being driven mad with the want for more, convinced he’d do anything to hear Stiles whine his name in that breathy way, begging him for something Derek would give to him freely.

Basically the sex was better than mind-blowing. It was earth-shattering. World-destroying. Ruined-for-everyone-else, won’t-ever-be-the-same-again sex. That’s what Derek was getting at here.

And in that bed was where they spent most of their day, with the exception of getting some late lunch/early dinner. But it wasn’t all physical. Some of the day was just spent wrapped around each other, pressing loving kisses against soft skin and talking to each other like they always did: some of it teasing, some of it serious, all of it from the heart.

At one point Stiles had actually startled Derek by smacking him with a pillow. No explanation, it was just something he’d wanted to do. Derek, naturally, grabbed a pillow and smacked Stiles back. And that is how two grown men ended up in a pillow-fight like a couple of teenage girls at a sleepover. Only they were more naked.

Around five-thirty, Stiles rolled off of Derek, waking up from a nap after round . . . probably four or five, and groaned.

Derek pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “What is it?”

“I only have this room until six,” Stiles answered, looking apologetic.

Derek hummed his acknowledgement. “Well we better get cleaned up before we get kicked out.”

They showered together, pushing their luck by going in for round six, before saying goodbye for the night, kissing each other slow and deep.

“Something to tide me over until tomorrow,” Stiles had said as he leaned up, and Derek wouldn’t have refused him even if he wanted to.

Derek left the hotel, driving slowly back to the villa, his mind wandering everywhere, but kept coming back to Stiles, always coming back to Stiles. He was incredible. Derek didn’t even know someone like him could exist in the world. Someone who was inherently kind; someone with honor embedded in their DNA; someone who filled in the quiet gaps Derek sometimes needed to get his words just right; someone who was equal parts silly and serious; someone who Derek could trust with his heart.

When Derek arrived at the villa, he was surprised to find it was quiet inside. Deciding his family must be out, he thanked his lucky stars and took off his leather jacket, thinking about how he needed to change his clothes. He turned to hang his jacket on the hook near the door when he felt someone touch his arm.

He jumped, looking over to see his mother standing there with a worried expression on her face.

“Hey, Mom. Sorry I was out all night,” he said, not bothering to deny it. He knew that she knew.

She nodded her head. “That’s alright: you’re grown,” was her response.

Although the words were nonchalant, Derek could feel something lurking underneath them and felt himself pinned to floor he stood on.

“Where is everyone?” he asked, trying to ease the tension he knew was in her.

“The beach,” she replied. “They wanted to get some sun on their skin.”

“You didn’t feel like going with them?”

“Thought I would wait for you.”

Derek shifted his weight from one foot to the other, knowing where the conversation was headed. He sighed and decided to stop beating around the bush, to just cut to the chase. His mother beat him to it.

“I like him,” she said, barely above a whisper.

Derek knew who she was referring to. “So do I.”

His mother nodded slowly, looking like she was weighing her next words. “Be careful.”

“He’s not Jennifer, Mom,” Derek wanted to keep his tone light, but the conviction in his voice undoubtedly gave him away. “Stiles wouldn’t cheat on me like she did. He’s nothing like her.”

She waved her hand gently. “I know, sweetie, I’m not saying he is.”

“Look, Stiles knows about Jennifer. I told him. He was understanding.”

It was true. Derek didn’t tell people about his cheating, lying, manipulative ex-girlfriend. About how his heart had been broken in more ways than one, and his trust was non-existent after that. About the engagement ring he had to return. No, he never told anyone about Jennifer who didn’t need to know. But he told Stiles.

Stiles had listened, giving Derek time and space to find the words he wanted to use before throwing his arm around Derek’s shoulder and pulling him tight against his side, resting their foreheads together. Stiles hadn’t said anything for once, and Derek was immensely grateful that Stiles didn’t bother trying to convince Derek that he would never cheat on him the way Jennifer did. Stiles was like Derek that way, believing that actions spoke louder than words and that promises were more or less meaningless until you proved them true. The fact that Stiles seemed to want to prove himself to Derek rather than just say what he thought Derek would want to hear was enough.

Derek hadn’t even bothered trying to date again after that. Not until five days ago, when his heart was telling him to talk to the underage drinker sitting at the bar beside him even before his mind had known what was going on.

“Of course he was understanding, because he is a nice guy. I could tell just by interacting with him at dinner last night. He has many fine qualities, and he seems beyond suitable for you. I know you like him a lot, which is why this will be so much worse than Jennifer if something ever happens,” his mother said with a quiet understanding, placating him with her soft tone.

“What do you think is going to happen?” Derek demanded.

 “It’s just . . . the military. It’s a prestigious and honorable profession,” She said carefully. “And a dangerous one. Not to mention he wants to be a police officer after that. He doesn’t exactly choose easy careers, does he?”

“Neither do I. Mom, he wants to go in to be an analyst. He said he probably wasn’t even going to do the whole sniper thing, you heard him! What are you trying to say here, Mom?”

“He’s planning on being on active duty, Derek, and being in warzones if need be. He’ll be away for months at a time and be back for maybe a week before he has to leave for several months more. Even forgetting how hard the distance would be on the both of you, should something happen to him out there-“

“Mom,” Derek said harshly, quickly turning his face toward the ground to convey just how much he didn’t want his mother to continue that sentence.

“I know.” She sighed. “I know. I just want you to know what you’ve gotten yourself into.”

She gently brushes her hand against his cheek before turning and disappearing into a bedroom. Derek, while trying to repress most of what his mother just said, smirked with no humor. His mom had always been the most intelligent person he’d ever known. That was why she had said “gotten yourself into” rather than “what you’re getting into.”

She knew her son well, and he knew that she was right. He was already in this. No denying it anymore, at least not to himself or his mom. He’d fallen for Stiles. Just a few, short days together and he was already in love.

Fuck. How’d this happen? What does he do now?


	5. Chapter 5

Derek didn’t see Stiles again until the next day. They’d spent the entire night texting, and Stiles had said he needed to spend some more time with his dad while he still could. That thought hit Derek hard. For the past almost week, Stiles and Derek had talked about everything, no topic off limits except for one: Stiles was leaving for Advanced Individual Training, and may or may not get called on to be shipped out for duty immediately afterwards. That meant that, after tomorrow, Derek didn’t know when he would see Stiles next, not for sure.

They had been trying to do this whole “live in the moment” thing, and it was working spectacularly, until the moments ran out, and they were faced with the dilemma of their feelings combined with the looming separation coming for them.

Derek tried not to notice, he really did, when Stiles squeezed him that much tighter when they saw each other that morning. Tried not to think about how, when Stiles stepped away from where he was holding hands with Derek – just to grab his coffee from the barista for God’s sake – Derek’s heart ached to have him back where he could feel him, safe and sound. Needless to say, Derek failed not to notice either of these things, as the meaning behind them was consuming him from the inside.

But Derek wasn’t the only one who sometimes had trouble with words, so the two men ignored the way their expressions soften when they looked at one another, the way they _had_ to be touching one another the entire day, even if it was just a poke or a hug or any arbitrary thing, they couldn’t be out of one another’s grasp for more than a few seconds at a time.

They spent the morning doing nothing planned, just going out for a drive along the coast, and then grabbing lunch at a small diner outside of town before stopping at a by-the-hour motel on the way back to make love to one another with as much passion and feeling as they had within them.

They ended up back on the beach, just wondering around with the waves splashing against their feet. They picked up seashells and gave the most beautiful ones they found to one another as a token to keep. As sunset approached, they could hear music playing from the direction they had been randomly heading in.

Squinting his eyes against the dimming glare of sunlight, Derek could see that it was a wedding, or the reception anyway, taking place on the beach with people slow dancing to the music of a small instrumental band.  Derek glanced down at Stiles, who was regarding the event with a pleasant smile. He was filled with a sudden, desperate want, and he found himself asking for it before giving it a second thought.

“May I have this dance?” Derek inquired quietly, stepping away from Stiles briefly to hold out his hand.

Stiles looked from his hand to Derek’s eyes and a slow smile swept across his face. “Of course,” he answered, placing his hand in Derek’s without hesitation.

Derek had never danced like this with a guy before, but Stiles seemed content to let Derek lead as he pulled him close.

What they were doing wasn’t really dancing, it was more of them gently swaying back and forth, turning in a circle while still ankle-deep in the water. It wasn’t about that anyway. Derek wanted to have his first dance with Stiles, sure, but even more than that he just wanted to hold him as close as he could, for as long as he could. He tightened his hand around Stiles’ waist and Stiles nosed against Derek’s neck, understanding him without the need for words.

They swayed together until the brilliant red sunset was dying off into a purple twilight. Stiles raised his head from where it rested on Derek’s shoulder and leaned up to press a kiss to the underside of Derek’s jaw. When he pulled away, he stepped back until he was only holding on to Derek’s hand.

“C’mon,” he whispered, pulling Derek out of the water and further up the sand, out of the reach of the waves and away from the sounds of the wedding party.

They laid on their backs in the sand, hands intertwined between them. After a few minutes of silence, Stiles gave a wet-sounding sigh, which may or may not have broken Derek’s heart.

“I’m leaving tomorrow morning,” Stiles said, looking up at the sky. He knew that Derek knew, but Stiles sometimes needed a moment of buildup before he could properly express his emotions, and it was a place to start.

“Yeah,” Derek said, clearing his throat of the lump he didn’t realize was there.

“I’ve been, um. . . I’ve been thinking,” Stiles began, “what if. . . I don’t do the whole fifteen year Army thing that my dad did?”

Stiles had said it as casually as he could with emotion cracking his voice, but Derek sat up anyway, looking down at him with wide eyes. “Stiles?”

“Well, I mean, I know my dad is a hero and all, but I’ve been thinking lately that maybe I’m not, ya know? Maybe I’m not a hero, and maybe I can live with that. . . Yeah I think I’d be ok with that as long as . . . well, as long as I’m with you. I’d be ok going into the Army for only like four years – cause four years is the minimum requirement of active duty – and then I could come back and be on Army Reserve or inactive duty for the last four years of my contract and get a job as a police officer earlier than expected and that’s not a bad thing, is it? I don’t think it would be-“

“Stiles,” Derek said, trying to interrupt Stiles’ babbling.

“-because, ya know, then at least we could be together again and it would be so much easier to do four years than it would to do the full eight year commitment as active duty like I’d originally planned-“

“Stiles,” Derek tried again.

“-and being a hero is overrated anyway-“

“Stiles!” Derek said louder, reaching out and putting his hand against Stiles’ cheek. It seemed to work, quieting Stiles down and making him look at Derek with those big, whiskey eyes that Derek loved.

“Stiles, I could never ask you to give up your dream for me,” Derek said honestly. “Don’t get me wrong, the idea of you coming back and _staying_ back so much sooner makes me the happiest I’ve felt all week . . . but I can’t be selfish with you like that, Stiles. It’d kill me, knowing that I made you give up something you had your heart so set on just a few days ago.” Derek shook his head, unable to say more.

Stiles sat up, eye-level with Derek. “But it’s not all I want anymore. I want a life with you, Derek.”

Derek could feel his eyes soften as the words came out of Stiles’ mouth, even as Stiles slightly panicked and quickly added, “and I know that is so ridiculous of me to say considering how long we’ve actually known each other, but I had a long talk with my dad last night, and he reminded me of the direction I was heading in with my life and how big of a commitment it would be and how it would detract from everything else.”

Derek opened his mouth to protest, to say that Stiles’ career wouldn’t detract from them and all that they could do with their lives, but Stiles waved a hand impatiently, letting Derek know he wasn’t done yet.

“And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the Army isn’t all that I want anymore. A week ago it was, but a week ago I didn’t know you, Derek. And I know that this is really strong and overly emotional and if I’m freaking you out then please stop me but I remembered when I was young, what my mom told me about when she and my dad first met.” Stiles looked firmly into Derek’s eyes, letting him know that he wanted him to listen to what he was about to say.

Derek always listened to what Stiles had to say, and Stiles knew that, so Derek knew that if it was important enough for Stiles to give him that look, then Derek had to do more than just listen, he had to really _hear_ what Stiles was about to tell him.

“My mom said that they met in a grocery store, in the freezer aisle, and he had asked for her help picking out the best organic vegetables to impress his vegetarian girlfriend at the time. Yeah, total strangers, picking out vegetables together,” Stiles rolled his eyes at the sheer hilarity of it and Derek couldn’t help but grin at the fond expression on his face.

“She said that they spent the next three hours walking around the store together, even though they were both done shopping, simply because neither of them wanted to say goodbye. She said that she couldn’t explain it, but she felt something inside her get tied to him in some way and that she couldn’t forget about him even after they left.”

Stiles fixed Derek with a meaningful look, and Derek could feel his face flush at its intensity. Derek knew exactly what Stiles’ mother had meant that something inside her had been tied to Stiles’ father. Derek knew what that felt like. From the very moment he set eyes on Stiles, there was a part of him that he was never going to get back to himself. From now on that part of him would always belong to Stiles.

“Almost two weeks later,” Stiles continued, “my mom went back to that same grocery store and, when she went down the freezer aisle, she saw my dad standing there, waiting for her. He’d told her that it’d taken him all of a day – one day! – after their first meeting to realize that she was perfect for him. So, even though everyone he knew thought he was crazy, he broke up with his girlfriend who he had been dating for a year, and went back to that grocery store, every day, and waited in that freezer aisle, knowing she would come back again. They got married six months later. It’s the craziest love story I’ve ever heard, and they were the happiest couple in the world for fourteen years until she died.”

Stiles sniffed, and Derek reached out automatically to run his thumb underneath Stiles’ eye even though there were no tears yet. Stiles leaned into the touch, grasping on to Derek’s hand with his own and holding on tightly.

“Derek, something inside of me is tied to you, and even if everyone thinks we’re crazy, I don’t care. I don’t need a year or even six months of dating you to know that I am in love with you. I know you’re the right person for me and-“

Derek would have let Stiles finish that sentence, but he couldn’t resist leaning in and crushing his lips against Stiles’. Hearing Stiles say that he loved him was all Derek wanted in the world, and he didn’t even realize that until after Stiles said it, when his heart burst with a happiness stronger than anything emotion – good or bad – he’d ever felt.

“I love you,” Derek murmured against Stiles’ lips when he pulled back slightly. Stiles smiled at him blindingly and surged forward again.

“So,” he said in-between kisses, “four years?”

“Four years,” Derek agreed. He pulled back again to look Stiles in the eye when he said, “I’d wait for you forever. Four years isn’t going to break us. I still have two more years of medical school and then three years of residency to get through, anyway.”

“Which means your last year before you’re a full-fledged doctor, I’ll be back for you to come home to every night,” Stiles said, running his fingertips through the hair above Derek’s ear.

Derek’s heart swelled at the thought. “And if you want to go back in the service for longer we can talk about it then.”

Derek knew he’d made the right call when Stiles’ face lit up again. “Thank you for that, but I think I’m okay,” Stiles said. “Besides, being on reserve I could still get called back to active duty anytime they needed me. So it might end up being more anyway.”

Derek nodded. “Either way, we’ll get through it together. Oh, and Stiles?” Derek said, pulling back again as Stiles tried to move forward to kiss him.

“What?” Stiles whispered, looking into Derek’s eyes with all the love Derek knew he’d ever need in his life.

“You are a hero. Don’t ever say you’re not again.”


	6. Chapter 6

Derek walked to the bus station with his hand firmly in Stiles’ the next morning. The sheriff on Stiles’ other side, giving him last minute advice on how to handle his advanced training, and Derek’s family on the other side of Derek, telling Stiles that he’d do great and not to worry, that they’d send him letters and pictures so he wouldn’t miss a thing.

Derek squeezed Stiles’ hand when they got the bus that would take Stiles back to Fort Jackson. He let go and stepped back so Stiles and his father could have a proper goodbye, in which they were both crying and hugging and wiping at their eyes, trying to pretend the tears weren’t there and that this goodbye wouldn’t be for longer than a day or two. Stiles turned to the Hales next, giving each member a hug goodbye, getting an arm punch from both Laura and Cora, who teased him about how dashing he looked in his camo.

Derek’s father told him to be brave but not that brave; that he expected to have a son-in-law someday soon and that, at the rate his daughters were going it would never happen. Derek smirked when his sisters feverishly objected to that. In a moment of seriousness, Mrs. Hale gave Stiles a small talisman of a wolf, one Derek recognized was supposed to be a form of protection that she’d found in her worldly travels from decades earlier.

“It’s always kept me safe and brought me luck,” she told Stiles as she tucked it into the front pocket of his uniform.

“Thank you,” Stiles said quietly but meaningfully before turning to Derek.

Derek knew his eyes were sad, and the tears that had been threatening to spill tumbled over his eyes and down his cheeks in that moment. He opened his arms as Stiles walked into them, burying his head in Derek’s chest.

“We’ll be in the car,” Mrs. Hale said then, gesturing for her family to give the two some privacy. The sheriff apparently agreed, walking with the Hales and making plans with Mr. and Mrs. Hale for them to all get together in a few weeks for dinner.

Stiles took a deep breath. “You’ll write, and I’ll write, and I’ll call, and we’ll see each other again before either of us knows it,” Stiles said, pulling back and lifting his hands to cup Derek’s face. Derek nodded, it was all he was capable of doing at the moment.

“Until then,” Stiles continued, voice cracking. “Focus on your schoolwork, and become the best pediatrician the world has ever known. I may not be a kid but Lord knows I’m gonna need a doctor around to stitch me up every time I trip over something.”

Derek couldn’t help but smile at that: the dream of tomorrow. It may be all they have today, but tomorrow will come sooner than they think, even if it feels like it’s taking forever to get here.

“I’d need to add two more years of specialty training on my education just to keep you from injuring yourself,” Derek said fondly, which made Stiles laugh and pull Derek down for a deep kiss. Leaning their foreheads together once they pulled away, Derek sighed. “I’m gonna miss you.”

“I know. I’m going to miss you, too. But it’s not guaranteed that I’ll be deployed right after training finishes, and I only have four months of advanced training ahead of me, so maybe I’ll get to come back before I get shipped out,” Stiles said, ducking back into Derek’s chest to hide the oncoming tears that Derek saw anyway. “I love you,” Stiles whispered shakily against his heart.

“I love you,” Derek whispered back into his hair, kissing it and inhaling the scent of _Stiles_ one more time. “Please take care of yourself.”

He lifted Stiles’ chin and kissed his lips one more time, hoping it expressed everything that he couldn’t properly put into words. Stiles kissed back with just as much force, wrapping his arms around Derek’s neck. They pulled apart after a moment, Stiles nuzzling his nose against Derek’s before taking a step back and picking up the duffel he dropped to say his goodbyes. He took Derek’s hand in his and their teary eyes met once more before Stiles began to move backwards toward the bus.

He let his grip on Derek’s hand fall away slowly with each hesitant step he took, though their arms extended as far as they could reach in order to keep the contact longer. After Derek’s hand fell from his, Stiles turned to walk forward and his stride became more determined. Although Derek hated the idea of being away from him – his stomach started to turn nauseous watching Stiles walk up the bus steps – he loved how Stiles was still going after what he wanted. Loved that Stiles was being the hero Derek knew he was.

They’d be together again soon enough. Derek felt that truth in his heart as Stiles took a window seat and pressed his forehead and the palm of his hand against the glass, eyes glued to Derek as he stood on the corner. Stiles mouthed “I love you” again as the bus started up, drawing a heart into the window even though there was no dirt or condensation to keep the picture visible. Derek smiled and lifted his hand in a half-hearted wave.

More tears came flooding out as the bus drove away, and he could still see Stiles straining in his seat to see him until the bus rounded a corner, and was gone. Derek’s shoulders shook with a sob he didn’t bother to hold back, followed by another, and another. When he turned around he could see his family and the sheriff standing by the cars, watching him. He tried to steady his breathing and gain control over himself, but his heart thumped painfully in his chest and his lungs could only take shallow breaths. God, he already missed Stiles more than he could bear.

He had to stay strong though. Stiles loved him, and he loved Stiles. Nothing was going to keep them apart for longer than they could handle, and they could handle this. Derek closed his eyes as his sisters raced over to him, throwing their arms around him and whispering words of encouragement. He hugged them back and let himself feel, just for a moment, that piece of him that was tied to Stiles. He could sense in his soul that Stiles would be safe and that he would be back in Derek’s arms soon. He could manage it until then.

The sheriff clapped Derek on the shoulder once the three siblings made their way over to the cars. “I was just telling your parents that you all are welcome by my house anytime,” he said somewhat awkwardly. He cleared his throat and spoke again. “Stiles really cares about you, Derek, and he never gives up on something he cares about. So, uh, don’t worry.”

“Thank you, sir,” Derek said earnestly, nodding along. Of course he knew that Stiles cared about him, but that wasn’t what the sheriff was trying to say. What he really meant was that because Stiles had put his heart into this, into Derek, the sheriff was giving it his blessing, and that was a much-needed relief for Derek to hear.

The sheriff didn’t stick around too long after that. The Hales tried to coax him into staying with them until they flew back home the next day, but being a sheriff meant that extra vacation time wasn’t something he could just take whenever he wanted to, and he was supposed to be back into work tomorrow.

Derek went back to the beach, declining the company his sisters offered him. He needed some alone time before he could face his family again. He sat down on the sand in the same spot where he and Stiles had laid the night before, where Stiles had told him he loved him, and stared out into the sparkling ocean. He knew this was the right path to take, but he couldn’t help feeling lonely for the first time in days.

He felt his pocket vibrate and absentmindedly fished his phone out to look at it. He smiled immediately, his heart reviving as he looked at the text on his screen.

_“Do you miss me yet? Cause I have two more hours of bus-travel I need to kill if you’re free ;P”_

Yeah, Derek thought, as he typed out a reply, he and Stiles would be just fine.


End file.
